Die Casting Case Studies

Cold-chamber die casting is the preferred process for high volume production of light alloy castings. Currently, half of the world’s production is manufactured using this technology, while continuous improvements in quality are broadening its application for automotive components.

The wall thickness of this speaker housing was very thin at about 1.35 mm over most of the surface. There were several problems experienced in production. Blisters would occasionally develop on the exterior surface leading to casting rejection. Cold shuts formed in the side walls, and the filling was incomplete or had cold shuts on the top side.

In a high pressure die casting for a transmission case, a shrinkage defect was revealed after drilling of the boss. Due to the current die design, it was not possible to insert a pin into the die, making drilling of the boss the only option for this casting.

The cover and ejector halves of a high pressure die casting die showed severe cavitation erosion. An evaluation of the filling process using MAGMASOFT® immediately showed an undesirable cavity filling pattern and extremely high gate velocities in combination with air pockets above and below the melt stream.